Wave driven prime mover



Dec. 16,` 1941. l. RuDl-:RMAN

WAVE DRIVEN PRIME MOVER Filed June 11, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR.wL/DE l? MA N llllll` ATTORNEY.

` Dec. 16, 194i. l. RUDERMAN 2,266,272

WAVE DRIVEN PRIME MOVER Filed June 1l, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2' ATTORNEY.

Der 1611941. ll. RUDERMAN WAVE DRIVEN PRIME MOVER Filduune .11, 19:58 :ssheets-sheet s zNVENToR.

/sooR'E RUDER AN BY ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 16, 1941 UNITED STATES AT T f GFF-ICE 2,266,272 f 'Y iWAVE nRrvEN. PRIME Movnn Isadore Ruderman, ySan Francisco, Calif.' jApplica-inname 11, 1938 sentirne. 213,246;

3 Claims. (Cl. 253-12) This invention relates to a wave driven primemover.

An object of' the invention isv to provide a mechanism whereby the ebband tide of the waves or swells, or any force of' a moving body of waterin alternate directions can be utilized to an eicient degree for drivinga prime mover; the resultant motion being continuously and evenlytransmitted to driven'mechanism, such as for the direct drive ofmachinery, or to electric generators and the like.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism in whichreciprocating motion is imparted to an impact receiving element by theimpact andv ow or alternate swell of`waves and the like, the said impactreceiving elements being guided so as to move on a path convergingtoward the bottom of the body of water at about an angle correspondingto the average change of' depth of the. body of water so as to.continuously receive the full forces of the waves, meansbeing providedto convert the reciprocating motion of this impact receiving element toa rotary motion of a mechanism for the driving of machines,I such aselectric generators and the like.

A further object of thisinvention is to provide a Wave driven.mechanismI which is adapted to be used in multiple units side by side inany suitable number along the beach of a. body of water so. as to bedriven by themovement of the waves in alternate opposite directions;said units being so connected toa common. driven mechanism as to impartrotary movement to ar drive shaft in the same direction. withoutinterference of one unit with the operation of the other units.

I am aware that some changes may be made in the general arrangementsvand combinations of the several devices and. parts, as well as in thedetails of the construction thereof withinY the scope of the present.invention as set forth in the following specification, and as definedinthe following claims; hence I do not limit. my invention tothe exactarrangements and combinations of the said device'and parts as describedin. the said speciiication, nor do I conne myself to the exact detailsof the construction of the said parts as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will be mademanifest in the-followingdetailed description and specifically pointedout in the appended claims, reference isv hadto the accompanying.drawings for theillustrative embodiment of theV invention, wherein:

Fig. 1 is afragmentalsectional .side view ofv a wave driven mechanism.constructedv in accordance. .with my invention, the section. being.'taken substantially on IinesIF-.loi-Fig. 2. Fig. 2 .is a fragmental,frontvicw ofmy wave driven mechanism, Ypartly in section.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental. sectional view of a suspension head for theimpact receiving element.

Fig.. 4" isa iragmental sectional view of an. illustrativedrivetransmission of my device.

Fig. 5 is .a fragmental view of a modified. form of my wave; drivenmechanism..

Fig..6: is a sectional view., takenon lines. 6-6 of Fig.. 7... i

Fig..'7 .is aV sectionalview, takenon.- lines l-'l of Fig. 5, and A 1Fig. 8. is a sectional viewtaken on lines.8-8.of Fi'g;.7.

In its. general organization. my device includes aiplurality ofcooperating units, each unit being. constructed in the same mannerbut-in conformance ywith the respective shore or vbeachA conditionsimmediately at the respective units. All the units are connected to a ycommon. .driven mechanism and work on the same continuously. Alltheseunits are sidebyside along a suitable lengthof the shore uor beach andpreferably follow theshore line. Each` unit extends into the wateroppositely tof Vthe l waivesand each unit works on aplurality-ofdriven'mechanisms to be operated successively' at differentstrokes created by the varying height and natureof the swells or waves.-The stroke in eachunit ison a pathsubstanti'ally convergent with thebottom of the beach towardthe shore at a degree about corre sponding'withA the average gradual shallowing of the waves as they usuallyvspread toward the shore.

In carryingout my inventionl make use of a frame Work 'l which extendsfrom the shore into the Vbody of waterpreferably to a point about wherethe outermost breaker line occurs normally. The frame workl has parallelchannels 8 which. have their openslots 9 pointing' toward each other inpairs. |T-hese channelsv 8. are arranged at the aforesaid convergingangle rela.- tively to theseaor'lake' bottom. In each facing pair ofchannelsis guided a floating Vane H by means of grooved wheels I2 whichlatter are run on triangular tracks I3 longitudinally in the channels 8.The wheels I2:are journaled-on vstub shafts ill, one extended fromv eachend of the floating vane H through the adjacent slot 9 and into thevchannelr 8; Each vane Hv is. preferably made of a' .steel or other hardcasing or jacket which incloses a hollow space filled with a light andbuoyant material VsuchV as cork filling ILE?.

Each vane Il is so proportioned as to present a comparatively largesurface preferably its largest surface, in the path of the wavessubstantially at right angles to the sea bottom thereat.

Each vane |I is guided and suspended on upwardly extended arms I1 eachof which has a Suspension head I8 on the top slidably held in upperrails |9 which latter are inside of and above but are parallel with thechannels 8. In order to prevent binding and reduce friction a suitablenumber of rollers 2| are mounted on each head, distributed bothforwardly and rearwardly of the arms I1 to take up the torque withminimum friction in either direction. The rollers 2| are substantiallyparallel with the vane I| and are located both under and above thetransverse suspension head I8. The upper rails I8 are connected to eachother at suitable intervals by substantial cross braces 22 and aresupported by substantial columns 23 on the frame 1. Thus substantiallytrue alignment of the vane is assured when moved bythe action of thewaves.

Along the top rails I9 are journalled aligned gear-wheels 24. Agear-rack 26 is mounted on the top of the vane II near one of thechannels 8 and is guided by roller guides 21 on the top of the adjacentchannel 8 so as to travel parallel with the channel 8 as the vane isreciprocated by wave action. The gear-rack 28 is .aligned with the rowof gear-wheels 24 and is preferably of such length as to rotate at leasttwo successive gear-wheels 24 at all times as it is carried alongsuccessively from gear-wheel24 to gear-wheel 24 by the vane The rotationof the gear-wheels 24 may be transmitted in any suitable manner so as tobe converted from intermittent alternately opposite movement into asubstantially continuous one way rotation. For instance in the hereinillustration there is extended a continuous driven shaft 28 above andparallel with the shaft of each gear-wheel 24. This driven shaft 28 isjournalled in brackets 29 suitably extended from the frame 1 so as tosupport the driven shaft 28 along all the units. It is to be noted thatthe rows of gear-wheels 24 of each unit are so arranged andY spaced thatthe gear-wheels 24 of the adjacent units are also aligned transverselybelow the same driven shaft 28.

There is a transmission onthe driven shaft 28 opposite each gear wheel24. The transmissions may include any suitable clutches, or transmissionor differential mechanisms and they may be so made as to either transmitpower from the shore-ward stroke of the vane or to transmit power alsoduring the return stroke of the vane II. Rotation of the driven shaft 28is then transmitted by suitable transmission such as the belttransmission 30 to a machine or electric generator or the likemechanism, not shown, where the same is put to useful application.

In the herein illustrative embodiment each gear wheel 24 is in mesh witha gear 3| on the shaft 28. A hub 32 of the gear 3| has a spring pressedratchet pawl 33 to engage a ratchet wheel 34 which latter is keyed onthe driven shaft 28. When the vane I I is moved by the waves toward theshore then the gear 3| is rotated in a contra-clockwise direction,viewing Fig. 4, and thus transmits rotation to the driven shaft 28. Onthe other hand upon the return or rearward stroke of the vane the pawl33 slides over the ratchet wheel 34 without engaging the same.

In the embodiment of the devices shown in Figures to 8, I illustrate amanner in which the return stroke of the vane may be also utilized forpower purposes. This arrangement is particularly necessary in instanceswhere the return movement of the vane as caused by its gravity and bysuction of the waves develops sufficient force to be utilized. In thisform of my device another hollow hub 36 is extended from the gear 3|oppositely to the rst hollow hub 32. In this hollow hub 36 is a springpressed pawl 31 for engaging a toothed ratchet wheel 38 on a sleeve-ortube 39 which extends from a gear wheel 4| journalled on antifrictionbearings 42 on the driven shaft 28. 'Ihe pawl 31 and ratchet wheel 38catch oppositely to the first pawl 33 and ratchet wheel 34, so that thesecond or Ieverse pawl 31 and ratchet wheel 38 are in driving connectionduring the return movement of the vane and idle or slide during theshore-ward movement of the vane This last described reverse movement maybe transmitted separately but it is preferable to transmit the same tothe same driven shaft 28. For this purpose the gear wheel 4| is providedwith internal gear teeth 43. From the fixed shaft bearing' bracket 29are extended diametrically opposite arms 44 outwardly and toward thegear wheel 4| and on the ends of each arm 44 is journaled an idler gear46 in mesh with the internal gear teeth 43. The idler gears 46 are alsoin mesh with a central gear 41 which latter carries a pawl 48 forengagement with a ratchet wheel 49 keyed to the driven shaft 28, so asto transmit rotation in the same direction as the first pawl 33 andratchet wheel 34. Thus the reverse 'rotation caused by the returnmovement of the vane :Il is converted into rotative force in the samedirection as the direct rotation of the driven shaft 28.

In operation the'waves or swells strike the vane and push it alongbetween the channels 8 While the rails 9 and suspension heads I8 androllers 2| hold the vane in position in the path of the wave' throughoutits stroke. During the reciprocation of the vane the gear rack 26rotates successively as many gear-wheels 24 as it comes in contact withdepending onrthe length of thewave or swell or breaker. The rotation istransmitted in the aforedescribed manner from each gear-wheel 24 to thedriven shafts 28 which latter'transmit it to the respective belttransmission 32 by which latter in turn the power and rotation istransmitted where the same is to be utilized. Each row of alignedgear-wheels 24 of the series of units works on the same driven shaft 28,so that the cumulative action of the series of vanes is imparted forcontinuous operation regardless of the variations in the length orregularity of the wave motion. The prime mover herein described can bearranged flatly and used on shallow beaches and shores even where thetides are usually low, and it is flexible so as to be readily adaptableto the contour of the sea or water bottom and of the shore line. It canbe lmade up in units suitable` for the desired power to be developed.The entire device can be coveredl or housed if so desired and is easilyadaptable to the-large variety of existing local conditions andrequirements.

I claim: Y

1.InV combination, a frame, parallel'guides thereon extended along thebottom of a body of water at an angle to the direction of the horlzontalplane of the wave and convergent with the bottom toward shore, a vanepositioned on said guides so astd receive the impact of the waves and bereciprocated'along said guides by the comme waves, means of connectionbetween said vane and said guides to confine the path of vane movementto reciprocation at a constant angle relatively to the bottom of thebody of Water, and means to convert and transmit the motion of the vane.

2. In combination, a frame, parallel guides thereon extended along thebottom of a body of water at an angle to the direction of the horizontalplane of the Wave and convergent with the bottom toward shore, a vanepositioned on said guides so as to receive the impact of the waves andbe reciprocated along said guides by the waves, means to convert andtransmit the motion of the vane, means of connection between said vaneand said guides to conne the path of vane movement to reciprocation at aCil constant angle relatively to the bottom of the body of water, andmeans of connection between the guides and the vane to hold the vane ata constant angle relatively to said guides.

3. In combination, a frame, parallel guides thereon extended along thebottom of a body of Water at an angle to the direction of the horizontalplane of the wave, a vane positioned on said guides so as to receive theimpact of the Waves and be reciprocated along said guides by the Waves,means to convert and transmit the motion of the vane, overheadsuspension means for the vane for reciprocable suspending the vane, andmeans connected to said suspension means to prevent the twisting of saidvane from the path of the wave.

ISADORE RUDERMAN.

